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Abstract
Nest site selection can exert strong influence on wildlife population dynamics and viability. Range-wide genetic monitoring of loggerhead sea turtles in the Northern Recovery Unit has made it possible to ask new questions about the processes influencing nesting beach selection, including the effect of previous nesting experience. I investigated the influence of environmental factors on apparent neophytes (first-time nesters) and remigrants (veteran nesters) nesting from three angles: spatial variation in nesting density, within season nesting beach selection, and between season nesting beach fidelity. Responses to environmental variables were similar in both breeding statuses, with both preferring low-wave, gently sloped areas with low human population densities, but remigrants showed stronger selection for environmental variables and higher nesting beach fidelity than apparent neophytes which nested over larger spatial extents within and between seasons. We also found that both apparent neophytes and remigrants moved northward within a season, but southward between seasons.